Ethereum’s founder warns on crypto. “*All* crypto communities, ethereum included, should heed these words of warning,” Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, said on Twitter on Thursday. “Need to differentiate between getting hundreds of billions of dollars of digital paper wealth sloshing around and actually achieving something meaningful for society.”

Ripple hits a record high. Ripple’s XRP trades up 26% at $US1.5926 a coin, according to Markets Insider data. It’s gained nearly 5,200% in 2017.

Apple apologizes for slowing down iPhones with older batteries. “We’ve been hearing feedback from our customers about the way we handle performance for iPhones with older batteries and how we have communicated that process,” Apple said in a public letter. “We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down. We apologise.”

SoftBank is buying a big chunk of Uber. The Japanese investment firm SoftBank agreed to buy a 15% stake in Uber for $US48 billion, or a 30% discount to Uber’s recent $US69 billion valuation. SoftBank will also invest $US1.25 billion in Uber directly.

Overseas markets close out 2017. China’s Shanghai Composite gained 13.71% in 2017, and Germany’s DAX is on track to finish the year up 28.26%, according to Bloomberg data.

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